I was in New York, heading towards the Cipriani restaurant. I was looking forward to catch up with Jamie. He had flown in from Boston and checked in to the same hotel. But he soon got busy with his consulting assignment for a major investment bank. So, we had agreed to meet for dinner that evening at our favorite restaurant.
It started to drizzle and I stepped up my pace. “I must learn to look at the weather forecast regularly”, I chided myself, as I crossed Hanover Street and entered Wall Street, the heart of world finance.
I barely managed to escape getting drenched as I stepped into the Cipriani. I looked around and found Jamie seated near a huge pillar with another colleague. I joined them and after a round of handshakes and backslaps, discovered that Jamie had come there with his boss, Alex.
Nice to meet you (I told Alex. He nodded).
” Actually”, Alex said after we had ordered the Appetizer, “I have been looking forward to meet you”
Really? How come?
“Jamie keeps talking about your blog posts to me”
hmm…and?
“To be honest, I advised him to stay away from all your posts and focus on his work”
Well..focusing on work is always a good idea, but what didn’t you like about the posts, if I may ask
“All your talk of connections and harmony is having a negative effect on him”
Why’s that?
“I don’t want him to lose his competitive edge. Don’t get me wrong…but you know…you have worked on Wall street as well. You know what I am talking about. It’s very cut-throat out there and our job as consultants is to help our client companies be successful. To do that, we have to help them compete and win. ”
Ok
“Reading all that you write about is making Jamie go all warm and empathetic. I don’t want it to affect his performance at work. He’s a rising star in my company, you know!”
Always happy to hear that about Jamie, Alex….and yes, you are right. It is a very competitive world out there
(Jamie looked shocked)
“I thought you were going to support me”, he whispered
(I remained silent. Soon, the appetizers came and we moved on to other topics over dinner)
(As we were finishing up the Triple-layer chocolate cake (my favorite dessert), Jamie got a phone call and said he had to rush back to the hotel. Some problem had come up with his airline reservations and he had to sort it out at the travel desk.)
“We’ll be fine. You go ahead”, Alex said as Jamie apologized to me and rushed out quickly to hail a cab.
After dessert, Alex and I were feeling quite relaxed and we decided to walk to our hotel. It was a glorious night, and the rain had stopped, so it was a pretty good idea to take a walk down Wall street.
As we crossed the corner of Williams st., Alex lit up a cigar and said:
“Hey, I hope I didn’t roast you over dinner. I just wanted to be honest with you, that’s all. I actually found you a nice guy to have a conversation with”
No issues, Alex….and thanks. I enjoyed your company too.
(A few minutes passed in silence, as we walked).
So..all these big buildings out here, Alex..they are the engines of the world economy, yeah?
“Of course”
What types of companies make up the financial system?
“Well…mainly Banks, Brokers, Hedge funds, Insurance companies. They are the core”
And your firm consults for them?
“Yeah. We get called by them to fix their problems and make them more successful” (with a grand sweep of his hands, he covered all the buildings in the skyline)
So…tell me Alex. Is it fair to say that once you enter one of these buildings, you are pretty much in there and leave only when it is successful?
“Yeah. You could say that”
And how do you do that?
“Well…we use a standard consulting method. We start a project. We look at a company’s goals, analyze their problems, break it down into smaller parts, fix those parts that are not working and then put it all together again. Voila’! Success.”
What exactly is successful?
“The project is successful, of course. ”
But your original promise is to make a company successful, right? Do you achieve that?
“Ha. Good question. To be honest, we can’t truthfully say we achieve that at the end of each project.”
That was quite honest. Anyway…let’s assume your successful project makes a company successful.
“Ok”. (he was starting to look a little nervous now).
Can any of these companies succeed on their own?
“I don’t quite follow”
They are all separate buildings…but does that mean they are all separate businesses?
“Oh? Well..actually no. They do a lot of business with each other”
So, can you make one of these buildings successful without making every other building on Wall street successful?
“Now….you are really stretching things too far.”
(We kept walking and reached Broadway).
Are you familiar with the NBER?
“The National Bureau of Economic Research?”, he asked
Yeah.
“I have heard of them. Yes.”
They wanted to study how connected all these businesses really were (It was my turn to make a sweeping gesture to cover all the buildings)
In 1994-96, they were connected like this (I showed him the picture on my phone)
“Holy s@#$!”, he exclaimed.
Well…it’s not that bad, really. You can still make one of them successful without worrying too much about all the others.
“Wait…you said 1994-96. How does it look now?”
Thanks for asking (I said and scrolled down to show him the next picture).
They found out that these days, it looks like this.
“This is unbelievable.”
Actually, it’s quite natural for an evolving system.
What is unbelievable is that consulting firms like yours, still use tools from the 80’s and 90’s to solve today’s problems.
Not realizing its interconnectedness, you step into a building claiming to make it successful at the expense of all other buildings. Look at this picture and convince me that you can.
“I must admit, you have me stumped. But that’s how we’ve always done it”.
Very honest again, Alex.
“Now I get what Jamie was talking about – interconnectedness. But I never would have thought it was all along in front of me – in the heart of Wall street”
Well…don’t be so hard on yourself. When you focus on the buildings, you miss the street that connects them all.
“Oh boy! I wonder what we should be doing differently then…”
Now that you can see what all your clients are part of…see them together as one system, much like a living organism that breathes, learns, grows, gets hurt, recovers, ages, dies and changes form.
Any consultant who is aware of interconnectedness will never give wrong advice. He/she will only help their client become a valuable member of a continually evolving system. That is real success over the long-term.
You have a smart team. I am sure you’ll figure out a new method.
“Hey..Why don’t you come and work for me?”, he asked suddenly.
Well…I work for that company over there (I pointed to a building a few blocks away). So, in a way, I work for you and all the other companies on Wall Street already.
(We both had a good laugh).
“But.. why did you stay quiet at dinner when I was bashing you up?”
Well..your intention was to do the right thing for Jamie. He, in turn looks up to you as a boss. And I wanted Jamie to trust his convictions himself, without depending on me for support. All things considered, I kept quiet.
“When I meet him next, I’ll tell him I was wrong. I also better start thinking of a new approach to help my clients”, he said with a serious look.
Looks like you’re becoming all warm and empathetic yourself (I smiled).
“After what I heard, it somehow seems ok to be that way… thanks to you…it’s a strange feeling, though.”
It’s not what I did. That’s what realization of interconnectedness does.
“I still think..you shouldn’t have lost the argument back there”, he protested, as we entered our hotel
Maybe…but don’t forget that I won a new friend later! Good night, Alex.
(Later that night, as I lay in bed, I wondered if I should have told him – what he would find when he looked inside a company to see how its own parts are connected.
Oh well..guess I will leave that for Wall Street to discover another day!)
Awesome :D
haa! good I took the strategy exam before you got me all confused like that :-p
anyway, i really enjoyed reading the post :-)
hee hee…and thanks for that…always nice to hear when people enjoy a post! good luck to you and think about this question during your holidays :-p
Reminded me of my strategic management lessons. Creating a win-win situation for all. that’s what you meant right? :)
@Hi Shruthi :-) cool..you studied strategic management? neat. Frankly, i never could understand the term ‘Win-Win’. When everyone wins, what would we call it? The word ‘win’ makes sense only when someone else has ‘lost’. Anyways, leaving the words aside…that’s the spirit ;-)
Superlike!
Super thanks :-)